What does commutative mean in math?

In mathematics, commutative means that the order of the operands does not change the result. This applies to operations (like addition and multiplication) but not all of them.

For example:

* Addition is commutative: 2 + 3 = 3 + 2 (both equal 5)

* Multiplication is commutative: 2 × 3 = 3 × 2 (both equal 6)

However:

* Subtraction is NOT commutative: 2 - 3 ≠ 3 - 2 (-1 ≠ 1)

* Division is NOT commutative: 2 ÷ 3 ≠ 3 ÷ 2 (0.666... ≠ 1.5)

So, an operation is commutative if a * b = b * a, where '*' represents the operation and 'a' and 'b' are operands. If this equation holds true for all possible values of 'a' and 'b', the operation is commutative.